1 Amcheer(The First Day of the Blessed Month of Amshir)

The Commemoration of the Ecumenical Council in Constantinople

On this day of the year 381 A.D., one hundred and fifty fathers assembled
upon the order of Emperor Theodosius the Great, in the city of Constantinople.
They assembled to judge Macedonius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and Sabellius
and Apollinaris, for their blasphemy against God the Word and the Holy Spirit.
When this blasphemy became widespread, the fathers of the church were concerned
about the peace of the church, and made these heresies known to Emperor
Theodosius. He ordered that a council be assembled, and invited Abba Timothy,
22nd Pope of Alexandria; Abba Damasus, Pope of Rome; Abba Petros (Peter),
Patriarch of Antioch; and Abba Cyril (Kyrillos), Patriarch of Jerusalem. They
came to the council with their bishops, except the Pope of Rome, who delegated
others to attend on his behalf.

When the holy council convened in Constantinople, they called upon
Macedonius. Abba Timothy, Pope of Alexandria, who was presiding over the
council, asked him, "What is your belief?" Macedonius answered that the Holy
Spirit was created like any other creature. Abba Timothy said, "The Holy Spirit
is the Spirit of God. If we say as you claim that the Spirit of God is created,
we are saying, in essence, that His Life is created, and therefore, He is
'lifeless' without it." He advised Macedonius to renounce his erroneous belief.
When he refused, Macedonius was excommunicated, anathematized and striped of his
rank.

Then Abba Timothy asked Sabellius, "And you, what is your belief?" He
answered, "The Trinity is one being and one person." Abba Timothy said, "If the
Trinity is as you claim, then the mentioning of the Trinity is groundless, and
your baptism is futile, because it is in the Name of the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit, and the Trinity would have suffered pain and died, and the saying
of the gospel would be invalid, when it is said that the Son was in the Jordan
River, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the likeness of a dove, and the
Father called upon Him from heaven." Then Abba Timothy advised him to renounce
his belief. When Sabellius did not accept, Abba Timothy excommunicated,
anathematized and striped him of his rank.

Then Abba Timothy asked Apollinaris, "And you, what is your belief?"
Apollinaris said, "The Incarnation of the Son was by His union with the human
flesh without the rational being, for His divinity replaced the soul and the
mind of the human being." Abba Timothy replied, "God the Word united with our
nature to save us, therefore if He only united with the animal body, then He did
not save mankind but the animals. Humans will rise on the day of Resurrection
with the rational and speaking soul with which there will be the communication
and the judgement, and with it they will be granted the blessing or the
condemnation. Accordingly, the Incarnation would be in vain. If that was the
case, why did He call Himself a man if He did not unite with the rational
speaking soul?" Then Abba Timothy advised him to turn away from his erroneous
belief, but he also refused. He excommunicated Apollinaris as he did the other
two friends.

Ultimately, the council excommunicated these three and all those who agreed
with them. Then they completed the creed that was established by the fathers at
the Council of Nicea until its saying, "Of Whose Kingdom shall be no end." The
fathers of the Council of Constantinople added, "Truly we believe in the Holy
Spirit, the Lord, Giver of Life... to the end." They put down many canons that
are still in the hands of the believers today.